Knowledge
by Saramund
Summary: Episodic - Chain Reaction - what happened after Hammond was reinstated? J/S


Knowledge  
  
Episodic Fanfic: Add on to Chain Reaction, Season 4.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, nor do I claim to. I just borrow them.  
  
Spoilers: Chain Reaction  
  
Author's Note: This one just popped into my head when I was re-watching Chain Reaction and noticed the Radiation Indicator on Jack's shirt.  
  
Colonel Jack O'Neill left General Hammond's office, a small frown on his face as he thought over his conversation with Maybourne. He'd heard the ocean through the telephone, but as to where the ex-colonel was, Jack O'Neill couldn't guess. There was a lot of ocean in the world, and only one Maybourne. He fiddled with the radiation indicator on his shirt, pushing it up higher on his collar, away from his throat.  
  
"Jack?" He heard his name called, and turned to see Dr Daniel Jackson, archaeologist and linguistic genius, trotting up to him.  
  
"What's up, Daniel?" Jack asked, when the young man caught up with him.  
  
"Just wanted to make sure that you spoke with the General."  
  
"About what?" Jack punched the button for the elevator, studiously avoiding eye-contact with the sandy-haired man beside him.  
  
"About what?" Daniel repeated, his voice rising. "Jack. You.. Reassigned..." He was spluttering now, in complete, wordless shock. The elevator 'dinged', announcing it's arrival.  
  
"It doesn't matter any more." Jack dismissed the query as he stepped into the waiting elevator. Daniel jumped in with him, punching his floor and glaring at his Commanding Officer. Jack ignored him, watching with the fascination that all elevator passengers seem to have, as the floor display changed from 28 to 27 to 26. Finally, Daniel growled and punched the emergency stop button.  
  
"Daniel!" Jack snapped, glaring at his friend. The phone in the elevator rang, halting the tirade in its' tracks.  
  
"Yes, it's just Dr Jackson." Daniel muttered into the phone, keeping one eye on the fuming Colonel. "No..Yes, in a few minutes. We .. I agree... Can you ...Good, good idea, Sergeant." Daniel replaced the phone and turned back to his friend.  
  
"Jack, we need to talk."  
  
"No we don't, Danny." He moved over to press the emergency button and get the elevator moving, but let out a small yelp of pain when Daniel snapped at his wrist. He stood back, staring at the archaeologist and rubbing his wrist.  
  
"When did you learn that?"  
  
"Teal'c showed it to me a few weeks ago. I figured I'd get to use it eventually."  
  
"Did well."  
  
"Thanks. Now, about this-" "Danny, there's nothing to say." Jack whispered, turning away. Daniel took a step forward, then stopped, seeing the hunched shoulders.  
  
"The General would understand, Jack." Daniel said quietly.  
  
"I said something to him, back there." Jack said after a minute's silence. "About continued understanding and continued lassitude when it comes to my military conduct. He smiled, but I don't think he ..."  
  
"Jack, he pretty much knows." Daniel told him softly. The Colonel turned to stare at him, eyes wide with shock.  
  
"How?" When Daniel remained silent, Jack grabbed him by the shoulders, shook him and the repeated the question.  
  
"It's fairly obvious, Jack. Even to a blind man."  
  
"Did you tell him?" Jack growled.  
  
"Me? No!" Daniel shoved him away. "Jack there was no need. We were reassigned. The whole base knew-."  
  
"The whole BASE?" Jack blurted, then paled. He was about to say something else when the elevator phone rang again. He snatched at it, putting it to his ear.  
  
"What?" He snapped down the line.  
  
"Ahh.. Colonel O'Neill?" The person on the other end stuttered. "Dr Jackson. He wanted.." The sound of a throat being cleared echoed down the phone line. "Major Carter has just collapsed in her lab. She's been taken to the infirmary. Sergeant Wilson thought you would both like to know." The phone cut off abruptly, but Jack didn't hear it. He'd already pressed the elevator release button and stabbed at the button for the Infirmary.  
  
"Sam's collapsed." Jack blurted, then fell silent.  
  
  
  
  
  
Jack sat by the bedside, staring at the pale face and frowning intently. He leant forward, hands clasped between his knees, back bowed out to stretch the muscles. He checked his watch quickly, and winced. He'd been sitting by this hospital bed for over eight hours now, and there was no change. She still lay there, eyes closed, chest rising and falling gently as she breathed.  
  
"Colonel?" He heard the Doc say quietly beside him and he jumped slightly, turning.  
  
"Didn't hear you come in." He apologised. Janet checked the chart at the end of Carter's bed, looking periodically at the patient on the bed.  
  
"Where are the other two?" Janet asked, noticing the lack of the rest of his team members.  
  
"Teal'c went to do his meditation stuff. Daniel has gone to translate that tablet SG4 brought back from P7M 421." He sat watching as she checked some statistics, then grew restless when she remained silent.  
  
"Well, Doc? What's the verdict?" He asked, breaking the silence.  
  
"It's radiation sickness, but only a very slight dose. She should be coming around in a few hours. We've kept her sedated to give her some rest. You know Sam. If she's awake, she's working." Janet smiled at the Colonel, noticing the tension and worry in his eyes clearing a little at her words.  
  
"She'll be alright, though, won't she?" He glanced at her again, one hand reaching out to touch her before aborting halfway and retreating back to his knee.  
  
"She'll be fine, Colonel. Tired, but fine." They both heard the measured steps approach the curtained off area, and turned.  
  
"How is she, Dr Fraser?" Hammond drawled in his Texan accent.  
  
"She's recovering, Sir. We've stopped giving her sedatives now, so she should be coming round very soon. She had a slight cellular imbalance from the chemical changes caused by the radiation."  
  
"Is that why she fainted?" Jack frowned, massaging his hands together.  
  
"No.." Janet seemed to hesitate. "Radiation sickness doesn't cause fainting, usually. Nausea, vomiting and diahorrea, but not fainting."  
  
"So what caused the ..." Jack drifted off, staring at the blonde woman in the bed in shock. "Doc?" He breathed the word, face going pale.  
  
"We're still looking into that, Colonel. We'll know more once she wakes up." Janet apologised, then turned to go back to her other patients.  
  
"Jack." Hammond got his 2IC's attention, as he pulled another chair over. He glanced around and made sure the three of them were alone in the room, then turned back to the troubled man.  
  
"General."  
  
"I wanted you to know.. I won't get in your way." After a brief hesitation, the General blurted out his news, and then stood up. "The rest is up to you." He patted the younger man's shoulder then left him alone with the woman on the bed.  
  
  
  
"You're awake." Jack blurted when she first woke up.  
  
"Sir? Wha-. The Infirmary?" She whispered, her voice hoarse. Jack nodded, then handed her a glass of water with a straw. She sipped sparingly, then wetted her lips. "Radiation?"  
  
"Doc says so. A slight case. But you shouldn't have fainted from it." Jack told her, frowning.  
  
"I fainted? I don't remember that. I was working on the artifact SG8 had brought back from PS9 573, and the next thing I know I'm waking up here."  
  
"Sam, are you pregnant?" Jack blurted out, shocking them both.  
  
"Pregnant? Jack, what? No!" She took a breath, closing her eyes briefly. "No, Jack. Why-." Her eyes widened as she realised where his thoughts had led him. "No. Jack, all the women on base are protected. We get a six monthly injection. There was no way." She took hold of his hand. "I'm sorry, Jack. I think it was just too much work, and not enough food, on top of the radiation sickness."  
  
"It..it's okay, Sam. It's probably for the best." He went to disengage his hand, but she held it fast.  
  
"What's for the best?" She repeated in a terse tone of voice.  
  
"You... Me... Us. SG1's back together again. We can't.. Regulations." Jack growled in frustration. It would have been easier dealing with a paranoid Unas on smack, than talking to Carter about their relationship.  
  
"Si-Jack. If you're about to tell me what I think you're about to tell me, I suggest you don't tell me anything." She snarled.  
  
"You're my second-"  
  
"In command. Yes, I know that, Colonel. I have been aware of that for quite some time now, in fact." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "However, you're forgetting a few very important points. Point Number one. Our relationship did not eventuate until we were no longer in a direct chain of command. Two, the base has believed that this relationship has been conducted for more than three years now, in secret. Three, the General re-formed SG1 with the complete knowledge that our relationship had become physical. Four, we can't go back to how we were before. Five-."  
  
"Hammond knew?" Jack blurted out. Sam smiled at him and nodded.  
  
"I went around last Tuesday and had lunch with him and Serilla. Afterwards, everything kind of. just came out. And he was fine with it, Jack. Actually, he had a big grin on his face." She smiled in memory.  
  
"So when he. He actually meant."  
  
"Jack. It would help if you could actually complete a sentence. Communication generally requires complete ideas or structures."  
  
"Now you sound like Daniel." Jack grumbled.  
  
"Sorry." She didn't sound sorry. "I have been hanging around with him for a few years, you know."  
  
"You scientists always stick together." Jack grumped, but his heart wasn't in it. The General had figuratively given his blessing, and with the base CO willing to look the other way, Jack just didn't have it in him to 'go back'. "A few conditions, Sam." He announced, and Sam smiled back at him, wiggling to get her shoulders comfortable on the stiff mattress.  
  
"And they are?"  
  
"Whilst off-world or on base, protocol will be followed."  
  
"Of course, sir." She said it with complete sincerity, but there was a tone behind the voice, a mischievous lilt to the word 'sir' that he couldn't quite catch.  
  
"You obey my commands as always, without question."  
  
"Ahh, sir? I never obeyed your commands without question. Not all the time, anyway."  
  
"Fine, then, Sa-Carter. Obey the commands that you used to."  
  
"Done, sir." She grinned at Jack, eyes gleaming. He grinned back.  
  
  
  
Hammond watched as Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter flirted and joked with each other as the team waited for the Stargate to finish dialing up. He heaved a sigh of relief, seeing the relationship hadn't changed. On base, at least. They still flirted, they still laughed, they still joked. But it never went any farther. As far as Hammond knew, there was no anti- regulatory behavior from either of them whilst they were on base.  
  
Off base, however, was a different matter. George remembered seeing the two of them at the local mall, giggling together over a comic wig of curly red hair that the Colonel had been trying on. George had stood there, on the other side of the concourse and watched for several minutes, a small smile creasing his face. He'd turned and left when he saw Jack leaning down to kiss 'his' major. If he didn't see it, he couldn't report it.  
  
"You have a go, SG1." He announced through the loud speaker. The four of them walked up the ramp, Daniel explaining a comment of Jack's to Teal'c while Sam giggled, face turned away. The blue pool of the Stargate swallowed the team, and the gate cut off, leaving an empty 'Gate room and SGC personnel preparing to receive the next incoming SG team.  
  
-Fin.- 


End file.
